Mr. No Hitter – Chicago White Sox at Texas Rangers

BetOnline MLB betting odds: White Sox -120, Rangers +100, Total 11

Southpaw Mark Buehrle (3-0, 3.00 ERA) takes the mound for the White Sox, while Scott Feldman (1-0, 7.71 ERA), a righty, gets the starting assignment for the Rangers.

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

(Numbers may go back to last season)

* CHI has played eight of its last 12 games OVER the total

* CHI has played five of its last six road games OVER the total

* TEX has won four of its last six games

* TEX has played six of its last seven games UNDER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* TEX has won six of the last nine meetings

* Four of the last five meetings have gone OVER the total

* TEX has won five of the last six meetings as the home team

* Four of the last five meetings in Arlington have gone UNDER the total

Mark Buehrle has been absolutely brilliant against the Rangers over the last couple of seasons, and in fact his best career night was against Texas. On April 18, 2007, Buehrle threw a no-hitter against the powerful Texas lineup, and if not for a fifth-inning walk issued to Sammy Sosa, he would have had a perfect game. It took him just 106 pitches to go the whole route. Mark Teixiera, now with the Yankees but then a mainstay of the Texas lineup, was so bowled over that he said, "He was going to pitch well. I mean, he pitched great. I’d rather get no-hit by a guy with great stuff then lose 7-6 to a guy who we should have scored 10 runs on. Buehrle had great stuff."

Last season Buehrle faced the rangers just once, on July 22, and gave up just one run on six hits in 7-1/3 innings. His lifetime record against Texas is 10-3 with a 2.84 ERA. His last three starts have all gone at least six innings, and all four of his starts have resulted in White Sox wins. Buehrle’s WHIP ratio this season is 1.29, which isn’t the best of his career, but his 3.00 ERA is his lowest so far.

Scott Feldman has been trying to transition into a full-time role as a starter (he formerly pitched in relief) and because the Rangers have been relatively thin in the starting rotation, and Kris Benson, who occupied a spot there, is on the DL, he has gotten that opportunity. His ERA in relief is 12.15, but he had the chance to start a game last Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles and allowed just one run in five innings. Last year he had a very solid outing against the White Sox, going six full innings and allowing just one run on four hits.

Some think Feldman is better off as a member of the bullpen, but I don’t know if that is true. Regardless, Buehrle’s record against this franchise is just too strong to ignore. Chances are, we’re going to get a very good outing out of him, and we don’t see any particular dominance in Texas at the Arlington site that is strong enough to dissuade us. We’ll go with the White Sox, the -120 favorite in the BetOnline American League baseball sports betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: CHICAGO (-120) ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)